R.E.I.
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REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) is an American consumer cooperative that sells outdoor gear and sporting goods via the Web, catalogs, and 90 stores in 25 states. It opens six to eight new stores each year. 2005 sales exceeded US$1 billion.
Lloyd and Mary Anderson founded REI in Seattle, Washington in 1938. The Andersons imported an Academ Pickel ice axe from Austria for themselves, and decided to set up a cooperative to help outdoor enthusiasts acquire good quality climbing gear at reasonable prices. Through the 1970s it identified itself prominently as REI Co-Op, focusing primarily on equipment for serious climbers, backpackers and mountaineering expeditions. However, in the 1980s, with changes to its Board of Directors, the emphasis shifted toward family camping and branched out into kayaking, bicycling, and other outdoor sports. Although it is still a cooperative, providing special services to its members, the "co-op" moniker has been dropped from much of its literature and advertising as it solicits business from the general public, even if they are not members. REI is now the largest consumer cooperative in the United States, with over 2.5 million active members who made a purchase in the past 12 months, and a total of about 8 million members since its inception.
There is a one-time fee of $15 to join the co-op. REI normally pays an annual dividend (or, in REI parlance, a "patronage rebate") check to its members equal to 8-10% of what they spent at REI in the prior year, although this is not guaranteed. The rebate, which expires on December 31 of the calendar year following the calendar year in which purchases are made, can be taken in cash or as credit to be used for further purchases. In recent years, REI's annual financial statements, summaries of which are mailed with the member's dividend statement and which are posted on the REI website (see link below), have shown several million dollars in unclaimed annual dividends, suggesting that not all members avail themselves of this significant membership benefit.
REI is headquartered in Kent, Washington. Its flagship store is in the Cascade neighborhood of Seattle at the southern end of Eastlake Avenue East. It has a distribution center in Sumner, Washington and is planning to open a second distribution center in Bedford, Pennsylvania sometime in 2007.
REI employs over 7,000 people, most of them in the stores, many of whom are part-time. REI has been ranked in the top 100 Companies to Work for in the United States by Fortune Magazine for several years running. Employees receive discounts of up to 50% on REI merchandise, 30% on others and free use of rental gear.
Although the majority of what it sells is brand-name merchandise from other companies, REI designs and sells its own private-brand gear under either the REI brand or under another, such as Novara bicycles. These products are often made by well known manufacturers such as the trekking pole maker Komperdell. The REI brand is primarally focused on value and durability. REI branded products are tested extensively by REI staff in house using specially designed tests that closely simulate outdoor use.
REI competes as a full-service retailer, with a fully integrated web site, including order-on-the-web and free delivery to a nearby store, rather than as a low-price retailer. Local stores host free clinics on outdoor topics and organize short trips originating from the store to explore local hikes and cycling paths. REI also is heavily involved in local communities, offering meeting space free of charge to non-profit organizations, supporting conservation efforts, and organizing yearly outdoor service outings.
In 2006, REI purchased 11 million kilowatt hours of green power, enough to offset twenty percent of its overall power consumption. This purchase placed REI on the Environmental Protection Agency's top ten list of retailers who purchased cleanly generated electricity.[1] By 2007, REI promises to make its trips through REI Adventures carbon neutral through the purchasing of green power credits.[2]
REI has diversified its offerings into global adventure vacations though the REI Adventures branch.
Major competitors in the United States include the for-profit national and regional stores Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, Eastern Mountain Sports, Gander Mountain, L. L. Bean, Sierra Trading Post, Sport Chalet, and Sportman's Warehouse, as well as national sporting goods retailers such as Sports Authority, Big 5 Sporting Goods, and Dick's Sporting Goods, web retailers such as Moosejaw.com, Altrec.com and Backcountry.com, and a host of local independent retailers.
Mountain Equipment Co-op is a comparable cooperative in Canada.
[edit] External links
- REI official site
- Financial information - balance sheet, income statements, executive compensation, etc.
